Download or read book Alina A Song For the Telling written by Malve von Hassell and published by BHC Press. This book was released on 2020-08-27 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “You should be grateful, my girl. You have no dowry, and I am doing everything I can to get you settled. You are hardly any man’s dream.” Alina’s brother, Milos, pulled his face into a perfect copy of Aunt Marci’s sour expression, primly pursing his mouth. He had got her querulous tone just right. I pinched my lips together, trying not to laugh. But it was true; Aunt Marci had already introduced me to several suitors. So far I had managed to decline their suits politely. Maybe Alina’s aunt was right. How could she possibly hope to become a musician, a trobairitz, as impoverished as she was and without the status of a good marriage? But fourteen-year-old Alina refuses to accept the oppressing life her strict aunt wants to impose upon her. When the perfect opportunity comes along for her to escape, she and her brother embark on a journey through the Byzantine Empire all the way to Jerusalem. Alina soon finds herself embroiled in the political intrigue of noble courts as she fights to realize her dream of becoming a female troubadour.
Download or read book Russian Style written by Julie A. Cassiday and published by University of Wisconsin Pres. This book was released on 2023 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the two decades after the turn of the millennium, Vladimir Putin's control over Russian politics and society grew at a steady pace. As the West liberalized its stance on sexuality and gender, Putin's Russia moved in the opposite direction, remolding the performance of Russian citizenship according to a neoconservative agenda characterized by increasingly exaggerated gender roles. By connecting gendered and sexualized citizenship to developments in Russian popular culture, Julie A. Cassiday argues that heteronormativity and homophobia became a kind of politicized style under Putin's leadership. However, while the multiple modes of gender performativity generated in Russian popular culture between 2000 and 2010 supported Putin's neoconservative agenda, they also helped citizens resist and protest the state's mandate of heteronormativity. Examining everything from memes to the Eurovision Song Contest and self-help literature, Cassiday untangles the discourse of gender to argue that drag, or travesti, became the performative trope par excellence in Putin's Russia. Provocatively, Cassiday further argues that the exaggerated expressions of gender demanded by Putin's regime are best understood as a form of cisgender drag. This smart and lively study provides critical, nuanced analysis of the relationship between popular culture and politics in Russia during Putin's first two decades in power.
Download or read book Your Name Is Light written by Tenaya Metzler and published by Covenant Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-08-03 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When registered nurse Alina Dixon is targeted in a brutal attack, her ordinary life shatters beyond recognition. Thrust into an underworld of espionage, intrigue, and danger at every turn, she is increasingly desperate to learn who she can trust. But true intentions are hidden. And her enemies may be closer than her friends. Former military and MI5 Agent Blane Burns is haunted by the tragedies of his past. When asked to join the FBI to track down the ghost responsible for Alina’s attack, he’s resolved to doubt everything and trust no one. Especially not Alina Dixon—the woman he’s now risking his life to protect. As they travel internationally amidst new secrets and betrayal, Alina and Blane will need to stay one step ahead of a shadowy organization to stop a global threat and ultimately stay alive. At the same time, Blane will have to learn to trust the beautiful nurse under his protection if he ever hopes to save her. And if he ever hopes to save himself.
Download or read book Playlist written by Sebastian Fitzek and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-09-12 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Music is her life. 15 songs decide how long it lasts. A month ago, fifteen-year-old Feline Jagow disappeared on her way to school. Her distraught mother asks private investigator Alexander Zorbach, a former police detective, to discover her whereabouts. Despite a month having elapsed since her disappearance, Feline's music playlist was changed just a few days ago. Could a seemingly innocuous list of songs contain a hidden clue to where the girl is being held - and how she can be rescued - or is the truth something more sinister? Soon, the mystery of the playlist plunges Zorbach into a horrifying nightmare that mixes past terrors with new ones, and where no one's survival is guaranteed...
Download or read book Virtual Lotus written by Teri Shaffer Yamada and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This winning collection of short stories poignantly illustrates contemporary life in Southeast Asia
Download or read book The Beauty of my Shadow written by S.D. Michael and published by Author House. This book was released on 2014-10-09 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the blink of an eye, a person's entire existence can change forever. At eighteen, Samantha Michael learned this in the most challenging way imaginable, when she was in a severe car crash at the hands of an impaired driver. After being rescued from the accident, Samantha was comatose and barely alive. Later, as she emerged from her coma, she would come to discover that terrifying moment was not the end but the beginning-the beginning of a lifetime of challenges and changes, tribulations and triumphs. With wisdom, grace and humour, Samantha recounts the aftermath of her injury and her personal, medical and emotional struggles to win back the happiness which was taken from her. She describes the impact on her family and friends, the lasting physical trauma with which she had to struggle, the pain of deferred dreams and the joy of eventually reclaiming her life and self, piece by piece, day by day. The Beauty of My Shadow will pluck a range of emotional chords as the reader experiences the euphoria, hope, doubt, fear, love and other feelings Samantha herself lived through in the days since her life was forever altered. Written candidly and from the heart, Samantha's story gives hope to those who have suffered similar trauma, as well as those who are simply wrestling with the ordinary challenges of daily life. Her memoir serves as a powerful reminder of the strength and versatility of the human spirit-that while adversity derails our path in life, undefeatable perseverance often helps us discover another route to take. A percentage of author royalties from the sale of this book are donated to charity. See book for details. Donated royalties are net of commissions.
Download or read book Against All Odds written by Alina Stoica and published by Alina Stoica. This book was released on 2023-05-31 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a story about a girl whose life takes a twisted turn very abruptly, and she finds herself having to choose between running away from everything she knew before, or face all of it head on. This is a story about bad choices, generational karma, abuse and self-abuse. This is the story of a Phoenix, who comes back to life burning so brightly, that it burns everything in its way.
Download or read book The Fugue written by Gint Aras and published by Tortoise Books. This book was released on 2016-02-25 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After over a decade in prison, a young sculptor, Yuri Dilienko, returns to his old neighborhood in Cicero, Illinois. He finds the town stripped of so many places he used to know, while the town's familiar streets, bricks and steeples trigger memories of his traumatic youth. To convalesce, he sculpts from collected scrap metal, but his arrival in town soon rouses a young girl, Lita Avila, to curiosity. Could this reclusive and oddly quiet man, whose art is sensitive yet intense, truly be guilty of setting fire to his parents' bungalow and burning them alive? At once an homage to the urban grit of Nelson Algren and the family sagas of Leo Tolstoy, The Fugue is a true epic that spans three generations and over fifty years, a major new achievement in the history of Chicago literature. It considers the effects of war and the silent, haunting traumas inherited by children of displaced refugees. Gint Aras's lucid yet lyrical prose braids and weaves a tale where memory and imagination merge, time races and drags, and identity collapses and shifts without warning.
Download or read book The Grey Wolves Novella Collection written by Quinn Loftis and published by Quinn Loftis Books, LLC. This book was released on 2021-01-13 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pack is made up of many members. And each of those members has his or her own story to tell. The following is a collection of four stories of the Romanian Greys and their allies. Sacred Silence I thought nothing could be eviler than Desdemona, or Reyaz, or any other villain we’ve faced down. I was wrong. I read all the books I could devour on the beauty of parenthood. I thought I was ready. But nothing could have prepared me for the hurricane of jacked-up emotional chaos otherwise known as post-partum hormones. ~Jen Resounding Silence Duty, sacrifice, service, and discipline. These were the characteristics that described Cyn, the warrior fae. Though love was out of her reach, she thought this life was all she needed. She had never been more wrong. A chance meeting with the Prince of the Elves turns her carefully structured world upside down. Piercing Silence It’s been six months since Jacque Lupei was imprisoned in the dark forest with her female pack mates, wondering if they would ever see their mates again. Six months since she and Fane found out that Jen and Decebel would not be the only couple adding a new pup to the pack. Six months of peace and quiet...other than Jen running her mouth incessantly about Sally getting to go on an adventure with Peri while she has to miss all the fun. When she isn’t complaining about that, she spends her time commenting on how Jacque’s butt is getting wider by the minute. Jacque doesn’t know it, but the reprieve was about to be over. Forgotten Silence Filthy. Disgusting. Unworthy trash. The same thoughts keep swirling in Sally's mind. She's broken and no one can fix her--not her friends, try as they might, and not her beautiful mate. She'd thought when Costin had rescued her from Jericho's clutches, broken the spell the rogue werewolf had cast on her, and left the cur lying in bloody pieces on the floor of an Ocean Side bar, that one day she might find some peace. Perhaps, with time, she could forget the horrible things she'd done. Perhaps she could forget how she had betrayed her one true mate. Now, several weeks later, the memories and the nightmares have only grown stronger.
Download or read book Escape From Chernobyl Escape From 1 written by Andy Marino and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Nonstop action, real history, serious danger. You gotta read these books!" —Alan Gratz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee 26 April 1986 01:18 Alina & Lev are two siblings living in Pripyat, one of the Soviet Union's proud nuclear cities. Both are asleep in their beds. Their cousin, Yuri, is a custodian at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where he's fiercely attacking a spill in the hallway with a mop. Alina's best friend, Sofiya, sleeps just a few doors down. Her father is an engineer at the plant, a fact that has always filled her with pride. In five minutes, Reactor No. 4 will explode in a ball of fire. It will expel radiation across their town for nine days before it's finally contained. For the people of Pripyat, it will be far too late. — Two young siblings flee the Chernobyl disaster with their parents, but the Communist party is on their heels. Meanwhile, the friends and family they were forced to leave behind must contend with a disinformation campaign that's determined to pretend nothing is wrong-even as deadly radiation spills into the air.
Download or read book Feversong written by Karen Marie Moning and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2017-01-17 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • MacKayla Lane and Jericho Barrons return in the epic conclusion to the pulse-pounding Fever series, where a world thrown into chaos grows more treacherous at every turn. As Mac, Barrons, Ryodan, and Jada struggle to restore control, enemies become allies, right and wrong cease to exist, and the lines between life and death, lust and love, disappear completely. Black holes loom menacingly over Dublin, threatening to destroy the earth, yet the greatest danger is the one MacKayla Lane has unleashed from within: The Sinsar Dubh—a sentient book of unthinkable evil—has possessed her body and will stop at nothing in its insatiable quest for power. The fate of Man and Fae rests on destroying the book and recovering the long-lost Song of Making, the sole magic that can repair the fragile fabric of the earth. But to achieve these aims, sidhe-seers, the Nine, Seelie, and Unseelie must form unlikely alliances and make heart-wrenching choices. For Barrons and Jada, this means finding the Seelie queen, who alone can wield the mysterious song, negotiating with a lethal Unseelie prince hell-bent on ruling the Fae courts, and figuring out how to destroy the Sinsar Dubh while keeping Mac alive. This time, there’s no gain without sacrifice, no pursuit without risk, no victory without irrevocable loss. In the battle for Mac’s soul, every decision exacts a tremendous price. Look for all of Karen Marie Moning’s sensational Fever novels: DARKFEVER | BLOODFEVER | FAEFEVER | DREAMFEVER | SHADOWFEVER | ICED | BURNED | FEVERBORN | FEVERSONG Praise for Feversong “Bold and brilliantly layered, deeply emotive and all-consuming, the story curves full circle as Mac and Dani try to save the world. . . . Fans of the series . . . will love every moment, every page. As one now expects from the incredibly talented [Karen Marie] Moning, gasp-inducing surprises await.”—USA Today “Heart-pounding.”—Entertainment Weekly “Epic.”—New Orleans Gambit “Moning is one of the best. . . . [Feversong is] an exciting, pulse-pounding action-filled adventure that at times is dark and terrifying, and other times gloriously happy and romantic. . . . Another fantastic story.”—The Reading Cafe “[Feversong is an] epic ending to an epic series. . . . It’s all feels.”—The Review Loft
Download or read book The Fever Series 5 Book Bundle written by Karen Marie Moning and published by Dell. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 1502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the blockbuster Fever series, Karen Marie Moning creates a darkly sensual and paranormal world, torn apart by the struggle between humans and Fae. Now in a convenient eBook bundle, here are the five thrillingly sexy novels featuring heroine MacKayla Lane: Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, and Shadowfever. “Give yourself a treat and read outside the box.”—Charlaine Harris, on Darkfever Darkfever When her sister is murdered, MacKayla Lane journeys to Ireland in search of answers. There, she makes a startling discovery: She’s a sidhe-seer, which gives her the rare power to glimpse beyond the realm of Man, and into the dangerous realm of the Fae. As the boundary between the worlds begins to crumble, Mac becomes a target. But her mission is clear: Find the Sinsar Dubh, an ancient book that contains the key to controlling mortals and Fae alike, before the enemy seizes it. Bloodfever In her fight to stay alive, Mac must hunt the Sinsar Dubh—a book of the blackest magic imaginable. Pursued by assassins and surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she cannot trust, Mac finds herself torn between two powerful men: V’lane, the ancient, immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man as seductive as he is dangerous. Faefever When Mac receives a page torn from her sister’s journal, she is stunned by its desperate contents. Now that Mac knows her sister’s killer is close, she’s on the hunt for revenge. Forced into a precarious alliance with V’lane, the lethal Fae prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man of deadly secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul. Dreamfever When the walls between Man and Fae come crashing down, Mac is caught in a lethal trap. Captured by the Fae Lord Master, she is left with no memory of who or what she is: the only sidhe-seer alive who can track the Sinsar Dubh. Clawing her way back from oblivion is only the first step Mac must take down a perilous path, from the battle-filled streets of Dublin into the realm of the Fae, where nothing is as it seems. Shadowfever In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac, and begins to mow a deadly path through those she loves. Who can she trust? But more important, who is Mac? Does an ancient prophecy reveal her destiny? Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it. “Delectably dark and sexy . . . spiced with a subtle yet delightfully sharp sense of humor.”—Chicago Tribune, on Bloodfever Includes an electrifying excerpt from Karen Marie Moning’s new novel, Iced.
Download or read book New York Magazine written by and published by . This book was released on 1993-09-27 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.
Download or read book The Memory Keeper of Kyiv written by Erin Litteken and published by Boldwood Books Ltd. This book was released on 2022-05-16 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A powerfully moving debut . . . Ukraine’s tragic history painfully echoes its current crisis, and on every page the Ukrainian spirit shines out, unbowed, unbent and unbroken.” Kate Quinn, author of The Diamond Eye In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies, Erin Litteken reimagines their story. In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbors disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain. Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons. Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother’s journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past. This is a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the love that sees us through our darkest hours and the true horror of what happened during the Holodomor. May we never forget, lest history repeat itself. Winner of the She Reads Best Historical Fiction of 2022 Award Winner of the Women's Fiction Writers Association Star Award "A compelling and intimate story of love and survival. Harrowing and haunting . . . yet, at the same time, it is sensitive, beautiful and inspiring. Everybody should read this story, especially now. I cannot recommend it highly enough." Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo ** "A stunning portrait of Ukraine and its people, of strength, of endurance, of the fight for survival during the forced famine, the Holodomor, but also a tender story of Katya, a grandmother whose hidden history holds the power to guide her granddaughter through the darkness of loss and grief, toward life and a limitless future. A remarkable read not to be missed." Lisa Wingate, author of *Before We Were Yours ** "This beautifully written snapshot of Ukraine’s history is both timely and heart-rending, sensitively bringing to life the culture of a nation devastated by an enemy invader. How shocking it is that it’s a history that’s being repeated today. And how important a reminder that where there’s life, there’s hope." Fiona Valpy, author of The Dressmaker’s Gift** ** “Emotionally riveting and honest . . . simultaneously shines an unflinching light on historical atrocities while it celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. You won’t soon forget this stunning debut.” Paulette Kennedy, author of Parting the Veil ** “The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a meticulously researched novel . . . depicting a country whose people managed to dig deep enough to find the strength, determination and heart to survive." Deborah Carr, author of An Island at War ** “Breathtaking. Devastating. Erin Litteken's The Memory Keeper of Kyiv chronicles a defining but forgotten moment of Ukrainian history.” Amanda McCrina, author of The Silent Unseen **
Download or read book A Kiss In Rome written by Barbara Cartland and published by Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd. This book was released on 2020-06-01 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Left penniless and alone after her parents’ sudden deaths, beautiful young Alina Langley is desperate to earn some money to pay off their debts when, quite out of the blue, her friend the glamorous Denise Sedgewick, arrives at her home from London in a smart carriage. Now a famous Society beauty she has come to ask Alina for help. The man Denise loves has gone to Rome, upset after Denise deliberately made him jealous at a party and Denise is desperate to follow him and win him back. Her plan is to travel with her cousin, Lord Teverton, who is on a special Diplomatic mission for the Prime Minister, but her father will not let her go without a proper chaperone. Since there is no one else she can really trust, she persuades Alina to pretend to be her mother, Lady Langley. Dressed as a sophisticated woman of nearly forty when she is just twenty, Alina meets the unfriendly but handsome Lord Teverton, who is instantly entranced by her. The trouble is, so is the persistently amorous Prince Alberto Borghese, who pursues Alina with considerable determination and cunning. And when Lord Teverton comes not once but twice to her rescue, Alina realises that she has fallen completely in love with him, but how can she explain that she is not the woman of the world she pretends to be but a simple girl who has never before been kissed?
Download or read book Genre and the Post Communist Woman written by Florentina C.Andreescu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is a critical intervention into the archive of female identity; it reflects on the ways in which the Central and Eastern European female ideal was constructed, represented, and embodied in communist societies and on its transformation resulting from the political, economic, and social changes specific to the post-communist social and political transitions. During the communist period, the female ideal was constituted as a heroic mother and worker, both a revolutionary and a state bureaucrat, which were regarded as key elements in the processes of industrial development and production. She was portrayed as physically strong and with rugged rather than with feminized attributes. After the post-communist regime collapsed, the female ideal’s traits changed and instead took on the feminine attributes that are familiar in the West’s consumer-oriented societies. Each chapter in the volume explores different aspects of these changes and links those changes to national security, nationalism, and relations with Western societies, while focusing on a variety of genres of expression such as films, music, plays, literature, press reports, television talk shows, and ethnographic research. The topics explored in this volume open a space for discussion and reflection about how radical social change intimately affected the lives and identities of women, and their positions in society, resulting in various policy initiatives involving women’s social and political roles. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of gender studies, comparative politics, Eastern European studies, and cultural studies.
Download or read book Resist written by Sarah Crossan and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The action-packed sequel to 'Breathe'. Resistance to the Pod Leadership has come apart. The Grove has been destroyed but so has the Pod Minister. Quinn, Bea and Alina separately must embark on a perilous journey across the planet's dead landscape in search of the rumoured resistance base, Sequoia. The welcome they receive at Sequoia is not what they expect, and soon they are facing a situation that seems as threatening as that of the Pod inhabitants.
